Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1887-06-10


manner of doing only, and not TO the
amount The average farmers trouble
will generally be to secure enough of it,
unless he holds. with the former secretary
Of the board of agriculture, that four or
five loads per acre are sufficient. A few
years since the general cry was Spread
the manure on the land after you pillow and
harrow il i'm. Pulverize and mix il with
the soil Don't pillow in manure and put it
down where it will do no good-where the
roots of the plants cannot reach it, There
was "a good deal of manure spread on top
for year or two, but now we observe that
a good many farmers are spreading the
manure ON the sod and blowing it in. We,
like many others, were follower Of the
spreading on.top' idea but contrive the
hest we could and with the most improved
implements we could procure, there would
be good many small Jumps or masses of
manure which would remain on top of the
soil, and "A great deal more which was near
enough to it TO be dry and hard in a dry
season-and in that condition they were of
Just as much value TO the growing crops as
so many stones. We take it that the root
let's of growing plant do not tackle a bit
Of manure and take it in, as the tuneful
robin gathers in the troublesome angle
worm at a gulp. Manure, to he Of bene
fit to the plant, must be moist enough to
have plant nutrition in liquid form, and on
dry land in an ordinary season good deal
Of that which is spread top does not
reach that condition, and therefore remains
vaueless to the then growing crop.
Concerning the objection to blowing in
as putting it below the reach of the crop,
we must say that on old land it has no force
4 Il
more than six TO eight inches deep, and in
turning the furrow but small part OF the
manure reaches the bottom Of the furrow
especially on mellow soil Then, IL corn is
planted, what with marking and planting
with planter half, or nearly half, of the
depth Of the furrow is taken to where the
seed finds place and with roots which com
pletely fill the soil, as some writers assert,
to a much greater depth than the furrow
turns, where is the danger of the manure
getting below the reach of the roots We
think there is none. We have plowed in
the manure ON our old land for corn, and it
gives much better results than where we
spread it on top and attempt to harrow it
in.
Concerning manure there is another
point on which there is considerable uncer-
tainty and disagreement arising, perhaps,
from using the same terms for different
things and that is liquid manure. We re
member hearing a gentleman at a meeting
of the board of agriculture relate his ex-
pericnce in rigging up tank to catch the
urine from his cows in as nearly pure Il
condition as possible. This he applied to
his crops without appreciable good results,
and he considered it comparatively worth
less Mr.. Allen Morse writes of q similar
instance in the Rural Vermonter. Follow
ing Mr.. Morse's note, &C. G. II. " writes of
liquid manure, of which he had not sup
posed any one questioned the value. He
cannot see how it could have been used
without effect But this is the kind of liq-
quid manure he had used with such excel
lent results after a rain have dipped up
pals of liquid manure that | found i'll the
barn-yard and applied it to cucumbers and
other garden vegetables" This is an en-
tirely different thing than that named in
the other case, and from what is generally
understood by liquid manure, which is the
liquid portions of the excrements of ami
mails In the case named by sc. G. H., " if
the manure had any valuable properties he
would be very likely to find the most read
lily soluble portions in the liquid which had
soaked through it.
More than one good farmer has tried the
application of urine, or liquid manure,
without practical benefit, but whether from
improper quantities or incorrect methods OF
application. who shall say Chemistry
shows liquid manure (urine) to be valuable
more so than the solid portions voided by
the same animal. Is chemistry and grow
ing crops in dispute, or is there some mis-
take about it f-1gricWiturdi department o
the Waterman.
There is evidently some mistake. If the
dispute is not with chemistry and growing
crops" it may be with the grammar but
we waive that point, the rules Of synta2
not being admissible as an authority oil
this question.
We should expect no good result from
urine caught in tank Gin as nearly pure
condition as possible and applied directl!
to the crops. 1t might benefit future crops
but if used in large quantities, it would b.
pretty sure to injure the crop to which i
was applied, Every practical farmer ha
observed spots in his pasture where tn
grass has been entirely killed by urine
Green manure as dropped by cattle will
also kill the grass underneath it, and goo,
commercial fertilizer if dropped so as t.
cover the ground an inch in thickness
would do the same.
When urine is taken up by absorbent
and properly applied and distributed in tn
soil, we believe the chemist will not b.
found far out Of the way in his estimate o
its value. Urine contains but little phos
phoric acid it is rich in nitrogen and pot
ash, two of the three essential elements o
fertility, If applied to soil wanting il
phosphoric acid it might have but little efTec
on the crop.